A kitchen company can spend the same $4,000 a month in the same zip code and end up running two completely different businesses. One books 14 cabinet refacing jobs at $8,500 a ticket and keeps three installers busy. The other books four full remodels at $38,000 a ticket, ties up a designer for six weeks each, and produces more revenue on a third of the leads.
Both are real businesses. Neither is wrong. What is wrong is running one blended campaign, taking whatever comes in, and then judging a $40,000 gut job by the cost per lead of a door-swap.
Here is how the two buyers actually differ, what each job is worth, the lead-cost ceiling for each, and how to decide which offer your budget should be pushing this quarter.
Why do cabinet refacing and full kitchen remodel leads behave like two different businesses?
They are two different purchases with two different triggers, two different timelines, and two different objections.
The refacing buyer
This homeowner likes the kitchen layout. The boxes are solid. The doors are dated oak, the hinges sag, and the whole room reads 1998. They are not planning a renovation — they are trying to avoid one. What they want is a new-looking kitchen without moving plumbing, losing the room for two months, or spending $40,000.
Ticket: roughly $5,000 to $15,000. Timeline from first contact to signed contract: two to five weeks. Install: two to five days. Close rate on a well-worked exclusive lead: 25 to 35 percent, because the decision is small enough that one in-home appointment and one price usually settles it.
This is a throughput game. It works when your cost per lead is controlled, your samples and door styles are ready to show, and someone answers the phone the first time it rings.
The full remodel buyer
This homeowner wants a different kitchen, not a better-looking one. The island moves. The soffits come down. The 36-inch range becomes a 48. They have a folder of photos, a spouse with opinions, and a number in their head that is usually lower than reality.
Ticket: $25,000 to $80,000 depending on cabinetry, counters, and whether walls move. Timeline: three weeks to nine months from first click to deposit. Close rate on a well-worked exclusive lead: 15 to 25 percent, but every closed job is worth four or five refacing jobs.
This buyer is almost never searching for a contractor when a campaign first reaches them. They are collecting ideas. That is why the channel that wins them looks nothing like the channel that wins a refacing job, and why our kitchen remodeling lead generation page builds the two offers as separate campaigns with separate budgets.
What is each kitchen job actually worth in 2026?
You cannot set a lead-cost ceiling until you know your real ticket mix. Regional pricing, cabinet grade, and counter material move these, but the ranges are typical.
| Scope of work | Typical installed price | Buyer type |
|---|---|---|
| Scope of workCabinet painting / refinishing | Typical installed price$3,000-$7,000 | Buyer typeCosmetic / fast |
| Scope of workCabinet refacing (new doors, drawer fronts, veneer) | Typical installed price$5,000-$15,000 | Buyer typeCosmetic / fast |
| Scope of workRefacing plus countertops | Typical installed price$9,000-$22,000 | Buyer typeCosmetic upgrade |
| Scope of workCabinet replacement, same layout | Typical installed price$18,000-$35,000 | Buyer typePlanned |
| Scope of workFull remodel, layout unchanged | Typical installed price$25,000-$50,000 | Buyer typePlanned |
| Scope of workFull remodel with layout changes | Typical installed price$40,000-$80,000 | Buyer typeRenovation-driven |
The pattern matters more than any single line. Moving one homeowner from a $9,000 reface to a $38,000 remodel is worth more than winning three extra refacing jobs, and it consumes one project slot instead of three.
The formula that sets your lead ceiling
Run this per campaign, not per company.
Max cost per lead = (average job value x gross margin x close rate) / 3
Refacing campaign: $8,500 x 0.35 margin x 0.30 close = $892, divided by 3 = a $297 maximum cost per lead.
Full remodel campaign: $38,000 x 0.35 margin x 0.20 close = $2,660, divided by 3 = an $886 maximum cost per lead.
Those are not close. Hold one blended campaign to $297 and you will never outbid anyone for the remodel buyer. Hold it to $886 and you will hand back margin on every refacing job you book. One number, two answers — that is the whole argument for splitting the campaigns.
It also tells you something uncomfortable: refacing is not a cheap-lead business either. A $297 ceiling means a $60 lead that closes at 8 percent is still a bad trade.
Why is cost per lead the wrong number for kitchen remodelers?
Because the invoice price of a lead ignores how many other companies got handed the same homeowner. Cost per acquired job is what pays a crew.
| Channel | Cost per lead | Typical close rate | Cost per acquired job |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChannelReferrals and past customers | Cost per lead$0 | Typical close rate40-60% | Cost per acquired jobNear $0 |
| ChannelGoogle Business Profile / organic | Cost per lead$0-50 | Typical close rate20-40% | Cost per acquired job$100-250 |
| ChannelShared marketplace leads | Cost per lead$25-75 | Typical close rate5-12% | Cost per acquired job$300-1,200 |
| ChannelLocal Services Ads | Cost per lead$30-90 | Typical close rate15-30% | Cost per acquired job$200-550 |
| ChannelMeta advertising | Cost per lead$25-110 | Typical close rate10-20% | Cost per acquired job$250-1,100 |
| ChannelExclusive leads (performance partner) | Cost per lead$50-200 | Typical close rate20-35% | Cost per acquired job$200-900 |
| ChannelExclusive booked consultations | Cost per lead$200-400 | Typical close rate25-40% | Cost per acquired job$600-1,400 |
A $45 shared lead closing at 8 percent costs $563 per job. A $130 exclusive lead closing at 28 percent costs $464 per job — and the ticket is usually bigger, because you are not one of four companies racing to the bottom on the same set of cabinet boxes. The full version of that math is in our breakdown of exclusive vs. shared leads.
There is a second cost almost nobody puts on the sheet in kitchens: design time. A full-remodel consultation with measurements, a door and counter selection, and a written proposal is two to four hours plus travel, and often a second visit. At a 10 percent close rate you are running ten of those to sell one job. Price that at your designer's loaded hourly cost and shared leads stop looking cheap in a hurry.
If you want to see your own version of this, run your current numbers through the lead ROI calculator before you change a single ad.
Which offer should you actually advertise?
Use capacity, not preference. Here is the order to work through it.
- Find your bottleneck. If installers are idle, you need volume and refacing is the answer. If your designer is booked eight weeks out and turning people away, more refacing leads make the problem worse — push full remodels and raise your average ticket instead.
- Check your close rate by scope. Pull the last 50 kitchen leads and split them by what they actually signed. If refacing closes at 30 percent and full remodels close at 8 percent, your sales process is not built for the bigger job yet. Fix the process before you fund the campaign.
- Set the ceiling for each. Run the max-CPL formula twice with your real numbers. Write both figures down. Those are the only two budget guardrails that matter.
- Fund the higher-margin offer first, then backfill. Give the full-remodel campaign enough budget to produce a stable weekly lead count, then use refacing to fill the crew calendar around it.
- Rebuild the lead form to match the offer. A refacing form can be name, phone, zip, and cabinet count. A full-remodel form should ask about layout changes and timeline, because that answer tells your team who gets called in five minutes and who gets a nurture sequence.
Why refacing ads often produce remodel jobs
The refacing offer is a lower barrier to raising a hand. A homeowner who would never fill out a form that says "full kitchen renovation" will absolutely fill out one that says "new doors and fronts in three days." Then your estimator gets in the kitchen, sees that the counters are laminate and the island is in the wrong place, and scopes accordingly.
That is not a bait and switch. It is a properly run in-home appointment — and an in-home estimate is a sales appointment, so train for it. The upgrade rate is why plenty of kitchen companies advertise the cosmetic offer and report an average contract well above the advertised range.
How do you reach the full remodel buyer before they search?
They are not typing "kitchen remodeler near me" yet. They are three months out, saving photos, arguing about the island, and getting a home equity line approved. Whoever shows up during that window becomes the default company to call.
That means Meta advertising built around real finished-project photography — before and after, same angle, same kitchen, with the price range and the timeline stated plainly. Not stock photos. Not a rendering. Homeowners can tell, and the ones who can tell are the ones with money. More on that pattern in our guide to kitchen and bathroom remodeling leads and in the case for reaching customers who are not on Google yet.
Seasonally, the planning window opens well before the work does. Homeowners who want a finished kitchen by Thanksgiving are deciding in August. Homeowners who want it done before a spring graduation party are deciding in January. Start campaigns six to ten weeks ahead of the slot you want to fill, not the week you go idle.
How many kitchen leads do you need to hit a revenue target?
Work backward. The volume difference between the two offers is the part most plans get wrong.
| Target | Refacing at $8,500 | Full remodel at $38,000 |
|---|---|---|
| TargetAdded revenue | Refacing at $8,500$1,000,000 | Full remodel at $38,000$1,000,000 |
| TargetJobs required | Refacing at $8,500118 | Full remodel at $38,00027 |
| TargetClose rate assumed | Refacing at $8,50030% | Full remodel at $38,00020% |
| TargetLeads required per year | Refacing at $8,500393 | Full remodel at $38,000135 |
| TargetLeads required per month | Refacing at $8,50033 | Full remodel at $38,00011 |
| TargetApprox. monthly ad spend at $75 CPL | Refacing at $8,500$2,475 | Full remodel at $38,000$825 |
Same revenue. Three times the lead volume, three times the appointments, three times the truck rolls on the refacing side. That is the trade: refacing gives you a faster, more predictable calendar; full remodels give you more revenue per lead and per project slot, with a longer sales cycle and a real risk of a stalled pipeline if follow-up is weak.
Most kitchen companies should run both. The mix should be set by which resource you are short on this quarter, and revisited every quarter.
What kills kitchen leads after they come in?
Three things, in this order.
Slow first contact. A homeowner who fills out a kitchen form on a Saturday night and gets a call Monday at 11 has already talked to someone else. Five minutes is the standard, and it is staffing, not software — the full breakdown is in speed to lead.
No follow-up past day three. The refacing buyer decides in weeks. The remodel buyer decides in months. If your sequence stops at three calls, you are handing the second group to whoever is still showing up in week seven.
Pricing on the phone. Give a kitchen number over the phone with no measurements and you either scare off a good buyer or anchor yourself under your own cost. Sell the appointment, show the doors, then quote.
The short version
Refacing and full remodels are two offers, two tickets, two timelines, and two lead-cost ceilings. Run them as one campaign and you will underbid on the job that pays best and overpay on the job that pays fastest. Run them separately, judge each on cost per acquired job, and set the budget by whichever resource is idle.
If you want the two campaigns built and managed through your own Meta ad account — exclusive leads, no shared homeowners, priced from $50 per qualified lead or from $200 per booked consultation with a one-time setup from $2,000 — get started here and we will walk the numbers for your market on a call. Track-record specifics are available on request.
Frequently asked questions
Should kitchen remodelers advertise refacing or full remodels?
Advertise both, but never in the same campaign. Refacing is a lower-ticket, faster-closing offer that needs volume and a low cost per lead, while full remodels carry a much higher ticket and justify a far higher lead cost. If you have to pick one to start, lead with refacing when your crews have open weeks and with full remodels when your design and sales capacity is the constraint.
What do cabinet refacing leads cost in 2026?
Shared marketplace kitchen leads typically run $25 to $75 each but close at 5 to 12 percent because three to five companies get the same homeowner. Exclusive kitchen and refacing leads generally run $50 to $200 and close at 20 to 35 percent. Exclusive booked in-home consultations usually run $200 to $400 and close at 25 to 40 percent.
Is refacing a good lead-generation offer or does it cannibalize full remodels?
It rarely cannibalizes if you scope the appointment properly. A refacing ad gets you in the door of a homeowner who already dislikes their kitchen, and a good estimator finds out on site whether the layout, counters, and appliances also need work. Some of those appointments upgrade into full remodels, which is why the refacing offer often produces a higher average ticket than the ad promised.
How many kitchen leads do I need to add $1 million in revenue?
It depends entirely on ticket mix. At an $8,500 average refacing job and a 30 percent close rate you need roughly 393 leads a year, about 33 a month. At a $38,000 average full remodel and a 20 percent close rate you need about 135 leads a year, roughly 11 a month. Same revenue, three times the lead volume on the refacing side.
Is Meta advertising or Google better for kitchen remodeling leads?
Meta wins the high-ticket side. Homeowners planning a full kitchen are collecting ideas for months before they ever search for a contractor, and Meta reaches them during that window at roughly $25 to $110 per lead with real finished-project photography. Google and Local Services Ads capture the homeowner who already decided what they want, which skews toward smaller, faster scopes.
Frequently asked questions
Should kitchen remodelers advertise refacing or full remodels?
Advertise both, but never in the same campaign. Refacing is a lower-ticket, faster-closing offer that needs volume and a low cost per lead, while full remodels carry a much higher ticket and justify a far higher lead cost. If you have to pick one to start, lead with refacing when your crews have open weeks and with full remodels when your design and sales capacity is the constraint.
What do cabinet refacing leads cost in 2026?
Shared marketplace kitchen leads typically run $25 to $75 each but close at 5 to 12 percent because three to five companies get the same homeowner. Exclusive kitchen and refacing leads generally run $50 to $200 and close at 20 to 35 percent. Exclusive booked in-home consultations usually run $200 to $400 and close at 25 to 40 percent.
Is refacing a good lead-generation offer or does it cannibalize full remodels?
It rarely cannibalizes if you scope the appointment properly. A refacing ad gets you in the door of a homeowner who already dislikes their kitchen, and a good estimator finds out on site whether the layout, counters, and appliances also need work. Some of those appointments upgrade into full remodels, which is why the refacing offer often produces a higher average ticket than the ad promised.
How many kitchen leads do I need to add $1 million in revenue?
It depends entirely on ticket mix. At an $8,500 average refacing job and a 30 percent close rate you need roughly 393 leads a year, about 33 a month. At a $38,000 average full remodel and a 20 percent close rate you need about 135 leads a year, roughly 11 a month. Same revenue, three times the lead volume on the refacing side.
Is Meta advertising or Google better for kitchen remodeling leads?
Meta wins the high-ticket side. Homeowners planning a full kitchen are collecting ideas for months before they ever search for a contractor, and Meta reaches them during that window at roughly $25 to $110 per lead with real finished-project photography. Google and Local Services Ads capture the homeowner who already decided what they want, which skews toward smaller, faster scopes.